On February 15, 2007 Kevin and Clara, Bostonians from the South End, hoped to hit the road on their motorcycles aspiring to visit over 40 countries during the course of the remainder of the year...However, due to unforeseen difficulties in New Orleans, our actual departure date was March 1, 2007.

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Since I was young, I have enjoyed the annual Christmas letter sent from my daredevil pilot uncle Michael. I’ve tried to send one out every year for awhile, because time and life is short and Clara and I have made so many friends whom we wish all lived on our block so that we could spend more time with, and stay closer to. But such are the vagaries of life, that we spread hither and dither, and some of you express appreciation to know what we are up to. If you have heard it all before, skip the rest of this and come over for a drink sooner rather than later, for the rest of you: Read on!

As most of you know, Clara and I took 2007 to ride our motorcycles around the world. We spent last Christmas in Udaipur, India where James Bond’s Octopussy was shot. We are hoping to write a book about our travels to 42 or so countries; I want to call it “The World is Full of Good People”, Clara who is smarter and more practical thinks it should be called “Adventure Honeymoon: Building Bridges to the World”. Either way, she is the star of the book, a five-foot-two-inch dynamo who had less than 1000 miles of seat time on her bike, taking off for what would be 36,000 miles on the odometer as we circumnavigated the Globe, through Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, the Subcontinent and Himalayas before ending in South East Asia. It was difficult at first, with her experiencing a few drops and falls, and our getting used to each other and the rhythms of the road. In Mexico and Ecuador it was NOT okay to take pictures of her sliding through a puddle and getting mixed up in a barbed wire fence. By Bolivia, it was okay to snap a shot of her sideways in a sand dune desert that passed as a highway. When we got to Transdneistr, she was staring down corrupt Cyrellian guards as I was trembling in my boots. To read more, please visit our blog at www.motomoments.blogspot.com. To all of our new friends we met along the way, thank you so much for all of your help, and for confirming for me the basic goodness of most people.

We arrived back in Boston in March, although we had rented out the BIG House and didn’t get back in it until July, so in the meantime we lived in a one bedroom section-8 apartment of ours in Roxbury. For Clara it was confining, for me it was like being in college again, sleeping in sleeping-bags on a mattress on the floor, an old door on two file boxes serving as a desk. We cleaned the back yard and planted a garden, as Clara looked for work, and I got back up to speed with construction stuff. It ended up being a brutal few months, as I was working on renovating a house recently purchased by the people renting our house. It is amazing to me how the rich (they make $500,000 a year between them) can be so nasty and miserable. We eventually had to evict them from our house, as they screwed over everyone from roofers, to heating people to electricians. They owed one subcontractor $500, sent him a check for $250 with a note that said “times are tough for everyone”. The problem is that working people are so used to getting the shaft from the rich that they tolerate it. For example, President Bush, Congress and the Bailout. Somehow I don’t think many of you reading this are going to get your share of the $20,000.00 or so per person they just handed out to Wall Street. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Welcome to America!

Meanwhile, Clara couldn’t find a job back with the Veteran’s Administration where she had worked. Her doctoral specialty is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Why would the VA need anyone with experience in PTSD working with Veterans??? Probably because we ONLY have two wars going on, and our vets are already not getting all the care they need. So, she took a job which she is really enjoying, working within walking distance at a private practice here in Boston. Seems as if non-veterans have the need and money to afford Clara’s excellent service.

Amazingly, the corruption in Boston hadn’t been solved in the two years that I was gone. I started to blog again about the myriad roadblocks that City and State government put up to keep residents from doing honest business and getting good schooling for their kids. Some people have started to take notice, and I was recently hired as a columnist by the South End News, my local weekly paper which had been keeping tabs on my ranting. The column was named by Clara and is called ‘No Comment?!’ in honor of all those politicians who won’t answer questions. It can be found at http://southendnews.com Only my city councilor and my state senator are currently under indictment by the FBI. My state representative who told me two years ago he was going to call me back after the election to talk about my ideas for Open government reforms has not been arrested and has not called me back. Yet.

This year we received the decision in the lawsuit McCrea v. Boston City Council in which the Boston City Council has spent about $200,000 of taxpayer money fighting an $11,000 fine in defending the Council’s right to meet behind closed doors and talk about the planning, zoning and development of the City, and other things and exclude the public from knowing anything about it. It went through the appeals court, and the McCrea decision is now case law in Massachusetts. The City Council plead guilty to all remaining counts in November to avoid a trial, setting our case up to be the largest fine in state history for a body violating the Open Meeting Law. Every once in awhile the citizens win one, thanks to my co-plaintiffs Shirley and Kathleen, who spoke to truth to power and to $600-an-hour lawyers and won.

I took Clara to the beaches of Central America for her birthday in August. While we were there, I decided to try the other side of the fence and “play ball” with a local politician. With my limited-but-getting-better Spanish I negotiated a deal with a guy running for Mayor. I would give him $50 and a pair of boxing gloves, and if he got elected he would let me exceed the zoning limits and build a hotel with a rooftop casino, if I hired some of his friends and family members to do some construction and engineering on the building. It really opened my eyes to how things get done in Boston, and what is the problem with that??? It creates jobs!! It cleans up neglected neighborhoods!! Everyone is a winner!!! Well, except for all the people left in shadows around me, and whose views I would block, but hey they have less money than me so they have less rights right? Unfortunately, I heard he lost the election.

My South End Youth baseball team, The GIANTS, won the championship again. We are undefeated in the playoffs for the last 4 years running. The kids were the champs, not me, as I lost my composure and had to retire early. I’m probably asking too much for the league to abide by the rules it sets for itself. As Clara would say, I’m a tortured individual who finds problems everywhere instead of seeing the glass half full. We had a bunch of great kids on the team who have been with me for years, including a new kid this year: God. Yes, I drafted God West in the second round (unbelievable: God was still available in the second round. I know!) and his adorable smile and attitude, as well as other great players like Ryan, Jorge, William made for a great summer. There really is a special warmth in the heart when you hear a kid call you “coach” with adoration, respect, and desire for instruction. I recommend it to everyone. Thanks to fellow coaches Mario, Bill and Ryan for a great year. Mario got me to go VT for a weekend wiffleball tournament to raise money for the Travis Roy foundation. Nothing like two straight days of pitching whiffle ball on miniature Fenway Park and Wrigley Field diamonds to remind you that you are not a teenager anymore.

Another thing that makes you realize you are not a teenager is breaking your wrist playing basketball with a bunch of big, strong Northeastern University “kids”. I was fortunate enough to do this in September, so that by the time our Thanksgiving family get-together happened in Hawaii I could take off the cast and swim, although it wasn’t strong enough to surf. The stench in my cousin’s house, however, was strong enough to get Clara to move out after one night and into a beautiful beach-front resort. There are compromises to be made in marriage, I’m learning. Don’t get me started on the state of health care in the country, as this is a family newsletter. But why would you pay 50% more for something that is of inferior quality? USA wake up!

I’m sorry if any of you lost money in this tiny correction that is happening, but, you trusted Congress, President Bush and Wall Street with your money. What were you thinking? And people call me crazy????

On a serious note, friends have noticed a difference with me and Clara since we’ve returned. Living for over a year out of 4 metal boxes makes you appreciate what is and isn’t important in life. We are more appreciative of time and friends, of conserving the world, intolerant of intolerant people and religions, and less materialistic. (Hard to believe I could be less of a consumer, but I am.) I love the library! I’m currently designing and hope to start building this year an off-the-grid house, with recyclable grey water; it is an interesting challenge.

The happiest man I know, is a motorcyclist from the D BIG BIKES motorcycle club in Thailand who befriended us and let us stay with him in Bangkok, and spent much time helping us to ship our bikes back to the USA. He has sold everything and is back to being a Buddhist monk in north Thailand (All Thai men spend time as a monk young in life, even the King). He is eternally giving and happy, and we stay in touch. All he has is his orange robe and his bowl to beg for his meals every morning. Life is a state of mind, and if we choose to be happy and to bring happiness, it will be returned. I am grateful to Ood for including me in his life.

This country was built on fantastic ideals, worth fighting and dying for. People around the world look to us as a beacon of hope for what is possible if we are given freedom and equal rights. They are smart enough to separate George Bush from the rest of us, but they question what direction we are going. It saddens me to have to spoil their vision of America, of a land without corruption, where everyone gets the same chances. My time in New Orleans shattered that ideal. We visited Tsunami-ravaged areas in Southeast Asia where they have completely rebuilt, but when I went back to New Orleans in September it almost seemed as if nothing had been done in the year-and-half since I left.

However, to end on a positive note, one of my favorite quotes from Winston Churchill “America can always be counted on to do the right thing…After they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

Let’s work together to do the right thing. Don’t tolerate empty platitudes from your elected officials. Even better, run against them! You will always have two votes from Clara and I. Make new friends, come visit us old ones or invite us to see you! Clara is excited about getting back on her bike in the springtime and finding new adventures!!!

Have a great New Year’s and 2009

Peace and Love,Kevin and Clara218 West Springfield StreetBoston MA 02118

P.S. Check out FireWater’s album: The Golden Hour. I can’t stop playing it. An American musician fed up with George Bush and our wars, traveled around the Middle East and Southeast Asia to meet our “enemies” (sound familiar?) He made music with local musicians, recorded it on his Mac and it is great. I crank it up and dance to it, it gives me energy to keep fighting the MAN. See it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52mb9xeGwI

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

We recenlty returned from a one-week birthday getaway in Nicaragua, and as usual we managed to have a fantastic time in San Juan Del Sur. Before we hit the beach though, we spent the night in Managua with the purpose of visiting what was reported to be the "best Irish pub in the city"...Hmm, I don't think so! In fact, this place is so NOT and Irish pub that according to Kevin, if the owner's friedns and family back home actually knew what his place looked like he would never be able to sho his face in Ireland again. As a result of the time change we experienced upon arrival in Nicaragua, Kevin and I got up unusually early and were on the road by 6:30am, so our ride to the coast was smooth and stress free. We had beach time, fishing time, and plenty of talking time with our Canadian friend Adam and his new business partner. Kevin even found time to play in a Texas Hold'em tourney. We met some great new people, including the front-runner in the mayoral race. Even though this is the rainy season over there, we got very lucky with the weather and only got rained on slightly on a couple of occasions. We were not so lucky in other departments as we had the quintesential Central American never-stops-barking-after-mignight-dog right outside our window every night, the radio from our rental car was stolen, and we missed our flight home. No real harm was done however and as we left the country we were already planning our next visit...Do come join us!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Many thanks to all our friends and family who stopped by to have some drinks, dance, catch a part of the slide show marathon, and just catch up!

Besitos to all.

Clara and Jewel Jr., our beautiful and talented young friend who just finished her freshman year of college with stellar grades! ...They grow up s fast!Karla on her clown shoes: "Never leave home without them!"Kevin DJing and making us all do the Hokey Pokey!As always, Raoul closes out the party in style!

Well...After 484 days we're finally back at home and can't think of a better way to celebrate than by filling the Big house with friends! So, bring your new wife, husband, baby, boyfriend, girlfriend, roommate, boss...Bring anyone who likes to have fun! Just come on over and be a part of our Round the World recap. There's gonna be loud music, dancing, drinking, and a world-class slide show. Dress for a fun or dress for a ball...and prepare for a hot summer night.

PS: For the very first, and only, time guests will be able to wear rubber soled shoes in the ballroom of the Big house (shoes must be promptly removed if venturing anywhere else though).

Monday, May 26, 2008

This Memorial Day weekend Kevin decided to take some well-deserved time off from work, so I've had him to myself all weekend and its been great!On Saturday we walked to the hatch-shell by the Charles river for "Earthfest 08". We enjoyed some free health food and a free concert by legendary Ska band English Beat. Kevin busted some great moves and schooled many of the younger generation in the art of Skanking. In the afternoon we picked up some of the kids from the Giants and brought them home for a pizza party and screening of the original Bad News Bears.

Yesterday we brought out the bikes and took our first ride together since Turkey. The day could not have been any more perfect as we rode south-east to Freetown, MA to see our friend Jim run a hare scramble. On our way there, we were consumed on the road by a big procession of Harleys and rode with them for some time. It felt fantastic to be on the road again and I didn't want to stop riding until we crossed a border or something. In fact, I kept checking for our (absent) passports in my pocket! We spent the afternoon with Jim, his girlfriend Dixie, daughter Gianna and nephew Matt.

Then, after we had left the track and were enjoying some Wendy's, our other friend Raoul joined us on his trike.

At night, Raoul, Kevin and I joined our friends Alexa and Scott at the movies to see what turned out to be one of the worst movies of all time: the new Indiana Jones. Wow, I can't even describe what a hunk of junk that movie is from beginning to end. Then, to add insult to injury, we watched a bit of Speed Racer before finally calling it a night only to discover that my car had been towed!!!! After several fruitless calls to the city police dept, state police dept and a few towing companies, we still had no idea where my car had been taken because it wasn't in anybody's records so we started to think for a minute that maybe the car had actually been stolen. Finally, we were lucky enough to run into a state trooper who had pulled someone over for speeding and he gave us the information about where my car had been taken. So, at about 1am we finally rescued my cruiser from the tow lot and were heading home. Even the bad evening hours couldn't ruin the high I had from the day's ride and we all went to sleep happy.

Today we will be joining our friends Mike and Diana for a BBQ at their new place in Waltham. The day is gorgeous and we're looking forward to some great music, good food and lots of stories from past good times.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Kevin had another very busy weekend as a youth baseball coach. The Sound End Baseball league was invited to participate in a tournament against the Back Bay League and Kevin was asked to coach along with three other dedicated coaches. They put together a great team with players from as many teams as possible in order to give lots of kids the opportunity to play. The tournament began bright and early on Saturday morning under cloudy skies, but by the time I walked over to the gorgeous field by the Charles river, the sun was out and the day had turned from drab to glorious! The South End team won both their games on that day, far out-scoring the teams they played. They won one game 17-0! In fact, they were the number one seed going into the elimination rounds on Sunday.

On Saturday night, we headed over to coach Scott's new home (which he shares with his new bride Kelly) for more baseball talk and some delicious grub off the grill. The coaches spent most of the evening going over their "stratigerie". Coach Scott also spent a significant amount of time chasing his crafty cat, Calvin, who escaped from the house every chance he got!

Alas the strategizing was all for naught as the South End team was eliminated after their second game on Sunday in a hard-fought loss against a team from Southie. Final score 4-3. Oh well, you can't win them all!! Just don't tell Kevin.

Monday, May 12, 2008

A pitchers' duel turned into high scoring run fest on Mother's Day at Roche Park.

It started out as a pitching duel between, Joshua Perez of the Giants and Dyvine of the Mariners. A bases loaded walk by God scratched home the first run in the second inning by the the Giants. In the bottom of the third the Mariners were now facing Keson John and they took the lead with their patience at the plate scoring 4 runs despite just one ball being put into play.

In the top of the fourth the Giants put on their rally caps and erupted for 8 runs, led by a grand slam by Jason Pepin, backed up by a Ryan Hernandez home run. But the shorthanded Mariners, who were down to 8 players due to an injury, came back in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 9-9 again with patience at the plate but this time with a couple of run scoring singles by Dante and Dyvine. The Giants brought out Jason Pepin on the mound to get the final out of the inning.

As the sun faded away, the Mariners brought in Francisco in relief for the final inning. The Giants rallied again with Josh Perez getting the big hit, a triple to right. Jason came back in the bottom of the fifth to close the victory with two strikeouts and a nice play at the mound to throw a runner out at first.

On such a tension filled game, that was well played by both teams, it almost goes without saying that GOD SCORED THE WINNING RUN!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Last weekend my great friend Alex was in town showing off her awesone boyfriend. She and I worked together at the VA back in the days when I was employed (before the BIG trip). Alex moved south to complete her pre-doctoral internship and, much as it happenned with me, she met a fantastic guy (named Jesse) and is happy as a clam! We hadn't seen each other since I left so I was very excited to see her and meet her Jesse. Well, it was all well worth the wait because we had a blast at Cleary's on Saturday night! To top off the good times, there were Mariachis at the club in honor of the upcoming "Cinco de Mayo" and they were handing out beads...two of Kevin's favorite things combined. Needless to say, he was the first to get beads and he was the loudest as we sand along with the Mariachis.

On Wednesday Kevin's little league team, the Giants, played and won their first game of the season against the Nationals. Kevin ahs 18 kids on his team and watching him manage this motly crue of 7-10-year-olds is a thing of comedy and beauty all at once!

This weekend we are re-connecting with mother earth as we plant our first ever batch of tomatoes in the back yard of our temporary home. Kevin and I have worked togehther, although Kevin has worked his butt off, to clean the less-big yard of construction debris and weeds and to sift the good soil out of the bad. Kevin built two large wooden boxes and we filled them with the good dirt. Today I planted the baby tomato plants and I'm very excited to watch them grow and eat their fruit in the not too distant future...especially with the price of tomatoes these days!

Monday, May 5, 2008

We traveled around the world: Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuala, Turkey, Pakistan, Cambodia. Only place anyone messed with our bikes was in Amsterdam outside the most expensive hotel we stayed in where someone jimmied open one of my boxes.

I come back to Boston, park the bike outside on the sidewalk in front of my house for two days and some jerks steal the BMW emblems off of the sides of my gas tank.

I was at brunch at a local political legends house yesterday, Mel King, and the discussion centered around how we as a society do not respect everyone in the society, especially the children.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Friday night we dined once again with our fabulous friends Matt and June. We enjoyed tapas, sangria, and a delicious paella at Sole in Waltham. The food was fantastic, the music was great and our waitress was quite the firecracker. She served our food with a smile and never missed a beat with our conversation!

Yesterday, the Boston Sailing Center was having their annual open house and offering free sailboat rides in the afternoon. Kevin and I decided to take advantage of this cool offer and so we headed to the harbor in East Boston, signed up upon arrival and waited about two hours for our turn. At around 5pm we finally got our 45 minute sailing around the harbor. Kevin complained when it was all over that we probably could have spent the two hours we waited in a more constructive manner, but I say, what the heck! We don't ever get to go sailing so for me it was an afternoon well spent especially because of the great the view of the Boston skyline we got from our vantage point on the water.

After our sail, we went to our friends Marlene and Rick's house for a barbecue and laughs. They always have a fun and ecclectic crowd of guests and last night was no exception. One of the guests present was renowned photographer Kevin Ames who specializes in nudes! (you can check out some of his work at www.amesphoto.com)

This afternoon, I will be joining Kevin and his basegall team of seven to ten year-olds at the bating cages...fun for all! Have I mentioned that God is on Kevin's team?? No joking, the youngest player on the South End Little League Giants is a seven-year-old with a great attitude named "God". It's good to have him on our side!

Friday, April 25, 2008

We have thankfully finally had a string of beautiful days with fantastic weather in Boston. As a result, people are happy, skin is back in (or out, depending on how you look at it), barbecues are off the unemployed list, and flowers are blooming all over the place and their vibrant colors are a welcome sight.

So, last weekend we had our first cook-out invitation from Alexa and her fabulous fiancee, Scott, at their great new home...

this week Kevin and I worked on rehabbing our less-big garden which was painfully ignored by the tenants while we were away...

and today I took my camera around town paparazzi-style and captured spontaneous shots of the loveliest lady-blooms in the city!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Well, today we really did live the final chapter of our "Round The World" adventure as we picked up Kevin's motorcycle from the docks. We were fully prepared to have some difficulty getting the two-wheeled vehicle out of Customs, but everyone was very nice, probably bouied by the fantastic blue-sky weather we're having and are predicted to have throughout the week-end. The US Custom officer even signed and stamped our "unusually formal" carnet without much ado and sent us on our merry way to collect the bike from the shipper. At the shipping warehouse, once again we were prepared for a long wait, but in a matter of minutes (and after paying the mysterious $135 handling charge) the crate was brought out and plopped down on Kevin truck-bed. All together, the whole process only took about one hour, including driving time. Not bad at all. Needless to say, Kevin was very excited to drive over to his garage and unpack the bike as soon as he possibly could. First things first though, and it was lunch time so we drove to Wendy's first for a celebratory double-bacon-cheeseburger lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking the bike and all the riding gear we had packed along with it. In fact, we think we actually could have packed a whole load of gems and diamonds in the panniers and no one would have known any better. As Kevin put his bike back together, I put on my riding boots and a borrowed helmet and took my first ride in months...since Turkey in fact. The bike felt fantastic, I can tell it missed me as much as I missed riding it! The ride was as they say, "short-n-sweet", only a couple of blocks to get gas. When he was finished with his tools, Kevin took the same fuel ride, the teaser, and returned very happy. In fact, he will be riding his bike all weekend since he is teaching a motorcycle safety course tomorrow and on Sunday.

As we drove "home" with the bike strapped in on the flatbed, we noticed that many fellow two-wheelers had taken advantage of the perfect weather to take their maiden voyage of the season. Motorcycle are everywhere! Once at home, I proceeded to give my riding jacked a thorough cleaning, something I had been holding off on doing until we left the grime and pollution of the third world behind. Now it's all down the drain and hopefully my jacket will look blue again, not new, not after 365 days of consecutive wear, just blue; happy, happy blue!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Last week was a busy one once again as our social calendar was bursting with great invitations from friends, old and new alike. On Monday the 7th we went to a Toots and the Maytals concert at the Paradise. The tickets were free courtesy of our friend Julie who was lucky caller #4 on WERS and won them. The concert was originally scheduled for Sunday, March 30th but it was cancelled at the last minute and re-scheduled for last week. In order to make up for lost time the band decided to have two shows on the same night and we got to go to the second show which began at 11pm! Needless to say, when the lead singer and main attraction of the band is in his late 60s to early 70s and presumably has been sick for a week, one cannot expect greatness on the second show of a double-header. Indeed, there was no greatness as we could barely even hear Toots although we were in the front row. In fact, the sound system was horrible and the whole concert sounded as if it was coming through on a home-made transistor radio!!! The only saving grace was that we had gotten the tickets for free, so we did the best to enjoy ourselves.

Tuesday the 8th was a very busy day; we had the home-opener of the Rex Sox at 2pm and then at 7pm were treated(by my brother Mariano and his new family, the Wights) to great tickets to a WWE(WWF) "Smackdown" event courtesy of "The Big Show" himself!! The Sox game was lots of fun, complete with an elaborate world-series ring ceremony and a cool fly-over by three F-16 jet fighter planes. Best of all, of course, is that the Red Sox won 5-0. So, after the game we headed to a local pizza joint to load up on carbs so we would be ready to scream our heads off at the wrestling match. We had four complimentary tickets and, believe it or not, were only able to find one friend willing to come with us to the event. (I believe this is because people up here in our social circle are a bit lame when it comes to trying new things). However, the guy who happily agreed to come with us, Mario, turned out to be a huge fan and connoisseur of wrestling who filled us in on all the ins-and-outs of the very entertaining sport. The event began at 7:30pm and there were quite a few bouts before our guy, Big Show, came out to fight "The Great Kali". It was a true meeting of the giants. However, Kali turned out to be no match for Big Show and the whole thing was over in less than one minute! (see video below) I was amazed at how heterogeneous the crowd was at the wrestling event, how many kids were there, and how much fun everyone seemed to have. Definitely a new experience for us that we quite enjoyed!

Friday night we went to Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square for the CD release party for "Jo Henley" the band in which our friend Tien Yi plays the drums. The sound was great as was the vibe and we were very proud of her and happy for her. On Saturday, Kevin went out around 10:30pm to meet up with two of his long-time greatest friends, Carla and Kari. They rendezvoused at Jillians and played pool and had beers and yucked it up until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday we had another social double-header: Late lunch at Dina and Peter's place and dinner with the Curleys and Skiadass at The No Name (this time I brought my camera!). Catching up with Dina and Peter was great and as always their cooking was delicious and their eclectic group of friends a great deal of fun. As content as my belly and I were after that gathering, I opted for the lobster again at the No Name 'cause I just can't seem to get enough of the delicious crustaceans. Hmm, with our bellies now really full and our spirits high from great conversation and friendship, Kevin and I headed home to retire for the night and be lulled to sleep by the sound of the Sox V. Yankees game playing on the stereo in the background.